These containers are generally equipped with what are known as pop-tops fitted with a pull tab and a tear strip known as earth-friendly used for opening the container.
However, the opening system by means of the pull tab and tear strip located on the top of these containers, which are also referred to as cans or tins, fails to meet the minimum conditions which can be required from the sanitary standpoint for their use and human consumption for two reasons.
On opening the container, the pull tab inevitabIy falls inside the container, the outside of the tear strip coming into contact with the can contents, such that any toxic or contaminating product which has settled on the container top then contaminates the liquid inside the container.
On pouring out the contents, it is not possible to prevent the liquid from touching the outer edge of the can top, any matter on the can top contaminating the liquid.
This entails a public health risk of contamination, since these containers are used in large quantities in nearly every country worldwide, and cases have already been reported on occasions regarding contamination due to the settling on these containers of toxic products having a direct impact on health (pesticides, fungicides, etc.). as a result of which it has been possible to relate the source of the poisioning, but in the cases of contamination which cause effects on organisms within a more or less short period of time, it is not possible to determine their source or cause.